Birds use Dynamic Soaring to Pick Up Velocity. We Could Use a Similar Trick to Go Interstellar universetoday storybywill
, is capable of generating 30 terawatts . While exponentially more powerful, ZEUS can only fire for 25 femtoseconds . In the meantime, said Larrouturou, scientists have largely neglected solar wind as an alternative since the power is much less than that of the photons that make up sunlight.
“A spacecraft using a parachute-like drag device called the plasma magnet in the solar wind might be able to accelerate at 1 m/s, or about one-tenth of a gee, much greater than a solar sail. Also, as the solar wind becomes increasingly tenuous as you move away from the sun, the region that the plasma magnet interacts with naturally expands to intercept more of the flow of particles, so the drop-off in thrust is not as severe as with solar sails.
“The termination shock and heliopause that surrounds the outer solar system are also promising,” he said. “Here, the solar wind comes to an abrupt stop, permitting us to perform dynamic soaring on these different regions of wind. Using these naturally occurring structures in our solar system, we show it is possible to reach speeds of 6000 km/s or about 2% of the speed of light.”
Compared to light sail concepts that require powerful lasers, a dynamic soaring solar sail has minimal power requirements. And, like its electric and magnetic counterparts, a solar sail that can generate lift from solar wind does not require propellant, making it a much lighter and more cost-effective method than other interstellar concepts. Lastly, it also has certain advantages over electric, magnetic, and other concepts that try to harness solar wind as a means of propulsion.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
How I Built a Static Website with User Authentication and Dynamic Database for Free | HackerNoonHow I built a functional static web app with user authentication and dynamic database for FREE using Webflow, Vault Vision, Cyclic and Airtable with LowCode - by vaultvisioncom lowcode webdevelopment
Read more »
UTSA’s dynamic offense will be challenged by Troy’s stout defense at the Cure BowlThe 2022 Duluth Trading Cure Bowl between the UTSA Roadrunners and the Troy Trojans will feature a dynamic offense versus a stout defense.
Read more »
Meghan Markle Opens Up About Her Early Relationship With Queen Elizabeth Behind Closed DoorsThe Duchess of Sussex describes her dynamic with 'Harry's grandmother' during her time at Kensington Palace
Read more »
United Airlines sees year-end holiday travel soaring - San Francisco Business TimesIn travel news, united is seeing hybrid work allowing more people to avoid peak travel days on their year-end holiday trips
Read more »
Unhappy New Year: CBO forecasts poor economy, soaring deficits in 2023The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Nov. 29 released an analysis describing its “current view of the economy in 2023 and 2024 and the budgetary implications.” In short, everything looks bleaker than it did a little more than six months ago, when the CBO published its Budget and Economic…
Read more »
Ford Reportedly Interested In Sponsoring Red Bull F1 Team | CarscoopsF1's soaring popularity and the variety of American races may encourage Ford to reenter the sport
Read more »